France wants the G20 to issue a statement committing to strong action on climate change and considers the issue a "red line", President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday ahead of the summit.
Macron was speaking in Tokyo on a visit ahead of this week's Group of 20 meeting, where climate change will be among several contentious issues on the table, along with trade and tensions with Iran.
The French leader held bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday, reaffirming an alliance that has been tested in recent months after the arrest of auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn.
Ghosn, a French citizen, once headed an auto alliance of Japan's Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors and France's Renault, and his arrest has laid bare tensions in the partnership.
The G20 is expected to be dominated by the ongoing trade war between China and the United States, as well as concerns that spiralling tensions between Washington and Tehran could lead to war.
But climate change will also be a ...

France's Macron says climate 'red line' at G20

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Israel protested to Chile on Wednesday after President Sebastian Pinera visited a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site alongside a Palestinian minister.
Pinera, on a visit to Israel and the West Bank, toured the Al-Aqsa mosque complex on Tuesday, with images on social media showing him accompanied by Palestinian officials, including Jerusalem affairs minister Fadi al-Hadami.
The status of Al-Aqsa, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and located above the Western Wall, is one of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest for Muslims after Mecca and Medina, administered by the Muslim Waqf but secured by Israeli police.
According to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Chilean Ambassador Rodrigo Fernandez was rebuked for Pinera's visit taking place "in violation of the regulations and a prior agreement." "The freedom of worship, which Israel observes more than anyone else has, should be separated from safeguarding our ...

Israel protests Chilean president's holy site visit

The premiere of Chinese war epic "The Eight Hundred" has been cancelled, an apparent result of censorship after an association of retired party cadres deemed it "inappropriate" ahead of Communist China's 70th anniversary.
Hailed as the Chinese "Dunkirk", the film details a story of a Chinese army unit fighting against Japanese invaders in the 1937 Battle of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
After consultation between the production team and other parties, the July 5 premiere was cancelled and will not be released this summer, according to a statement posted on Tuesday on the film's Weibo account, a Twitter like platform.
"The new release date will be announced at a later time," the statement said, without explaining the reasons behind the decision.
The movie had already been abruptly yanked from the Shanghai International Film Festival earlier this month due to "technical issues" -- a term often used as a euphemism for censorship.
The abrupt cancellation of the premiere ...

Chinese war film cancels premiere in apparent censorship

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor wants to open a full investigation into Myanmar's alleged crimes against Rohingya Muslims, including killings and forced deportations, the court said Wednesday.
Fatou Bensouda's move comes after she launched a preliminary examination in September into Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown, which saw around 700,000 people flee into neighbouring Bangladesh.
The Ghanaian-born prosecutor will now "submit a request for an authorisation to open an investigation into this situation", the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.
Judges will then "decide whether or not to authorise" her request for a full-scale probe, the court said, without saying when that decision would be made.
In September, judges ruled that even though Myanmar has not signed up to the ICC, the court still has jurisdiction over crimes against the Rohingya because Bangladesh, where they are now refugees, is a member.
The probe would be "within the context of two waves of violence in ...

ICC prosecutor seeks full Myanmar atrocities probe

Oman said Wednesday that it has decided to open an embassy in the Palestinian territories in support of the Palestinian people, in a first for a Gulf Arab state.
The announcement coincides with a US-led economic workshop in Bahrain to unveil a Middle East peace plan which is not expected to recognise an independent Palestinian state.
"In continuation of Oman's support for the Palestinian people, the Sultanate of Oman has decided to open a diplomatic mission at the level of embassy in the State of Palestine," the foreign ministry said on Twitter.
A delegation from the foreign ministry will travel to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, to take the necessary measures to open the embassy, it said.  The announcement was cautiously welcomed by a senior Palestinian official.
"We think maybe first of all it will help us educate the Omani government as to the real nature of the occupation and also working with Palestine directly," Hanan Ashrawi told journalists.
But she warned ...

Oman says to open embassy in Palestinian territories

British prime ministerial hopeful Boris Johnson prompted puzzlement, amusement -- and some skepticism -- with the unexpected admission that he makes model buses by painting up wooden wine boxes.
The former London mayor, battling with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to be the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister, said he partakes in the pastime to relax.
"I make things," the 55-year-old told TalkRadio in an interview Tuesday when asked how he winds down.
"I get old wooden crates, right? And I paint them," the former foreign secretary added, noting the boxes would have typically contained two wine bottles.
"It will have a dividing thing, and I turn it into a bus and... I paint the passengers enjoying themselves on the wonderful bus."
The unusual hobby produced an immediate outpouring of global reaction on the internet and among politicos -- ranging from the bemused to the belittling.
US political scientist Brian Klaas called it "truly weird" and "so bizarre that it's ...

Boris Johnson's model bus hobby drives frenzy of reaction

Global cocaine production reached an all-time high in 2017, breaking the previous year's record by 25 percent, the UN drugs and crime agency said Wednesday in its annual report after it ran surveys in India and Nigeria.
New remote fields and criminal gangs boosted production in the world's top supplier, despite efforts to steer rural communities away from coca cultivation following a peace deal with FARC rebels.
"Of course it's bad news every time. It's bad news for the producing countries... What is happening in Columbia is worrisome," said Angela Me, chief of research of the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The report said the jump in production "was mainly driven by increases in cocaine manufacture in Colombia, which produced an estimated 70 per cent of the world's cocaine".
In the decade to 2017, there was a 50 percent increase in manufacture, reaching a record 1,976 tons two years ago, according to the report, which bases its figures on national ...

Cocaine production hit new record in 2017: UN report

Heading in to the G20 summit, Facebook is on notice from powerful regulators including the Fed chief that its ambitious plans for a global crypto-currency face piercing scrutiny.
The Libra coin is endorsed by a heavyweight consortium of companies, and could see Facebook leverage its two billion-plus users to bring crypto-money out of the shadows and into the mainstream.
But Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, addressing the launch for the first time on Tuesday, added his considerable voice to warnings heard already from regulators in Europe and from US lawmakers.
"We're looking at it very carefully," Powell told an event sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
"Given the possible scale of it, I think that our expectations from a consumer protection standpoint, from a regulatory standpoint, are going to be very, very high," he said.
Facebook promises the new currency, launching next year, will slash transaction costs and bring more services to people without ...

Facebook's crypto currency faces pre-G20 examination

A church in northern Greece on Wednesday said it would bless a hilltop forest recently devastated by bark beetle attacks.
"Our Church has always used its weapons, prayer and blessings, even to address natural disasters," the Dormition of Mary church of Oreokastro said in a statement.
Experts earlier this month said that almost ten percent of pine trees at the Seich Sou forest overlooking Thessaloniki had been destroyed by larvae of the Tomicus piniperda beetle.
Better known as the common pine bark beetle, Tomicus piniperda is identified as a serious pest in the United States and is regarded as one of the most destructive shoot-feeding species in Europe.
Seich Sou forest hosts 277 plant species, among which pine trees are dominant.
There are also scattered cypress and plane trees, and many species of poplars.
In 1997, a large fire broke out and burned down more than half of the forest.

Greek priests to bless beetle-devastated forest

American television star Kim Kardashian has sparked debate in Japan by naming her new line of shapewear "Kimono," prompting some to accuse her of disrespecting the traditional outfit.
The pop culture icon unveiled the new "Kimono" line on Twitter, revealing she had been working for a year on the underwear to offer "solutions for women that actually work." But the announcement garnered mixed reaction both at home and in Japan, with some offering their criticism on Twitter using the hashtag #KimOhNo.
"She's been to Japan many times. I'm shocked. She has no respect," tweeted one user in Japanese.
"I like Kim Kardashian, but please pick a name other than kimono if it's underwear," wrote another.
"The Japanese government should file a protest against Kardashian," wrote a third.
Kimono literally means "something to wear," while Kardashian's use of it appeared to be a play on her first name. The new line's website offered no explanation, and Kardashian has yet to respond to her online ...

Bum move: Kardashian 'kimono' shapewear sparks Japan debate

Indonesian police beat protesters during last month's deadly rioting in Jakarta, Amnesty International said, as it called for an independent probe into "grave human rights violations", including the killing of demonstrators.
In May, peaceful protests against president Joko Widodo's re-election victory in the world's third-biggest democracy erupted into street battles between police and rioters in central Jakarta.
At least nine demonstrators were killed and hundreds more injured in the city's worst violence in years.
Police have been under the spotlight after online videos surfaced that appeared to show a group of officers viciously beating a protester as he lay on the ground.
"Amnesty International found that at least four other men were beaten by the police during that incident," the rights group said in the letter dated Tuesday.
"The evidence we have obtained indicates that the police carried out torture or other ill-treatment against persons in their custody in other areas of ...

Indonesian police beat protesters during deadly Jakarta riots: Amnesty

Spanish midfielder David Silva has confirmed he will leave Manchester City at the end of next season when his contract expires.
Silva is one of City's most decorated players of all-time having won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups since joining from Valencia in 2010.
He scored his 71st goal in 396 appearances so far for the English champions in the FA Cup final last month as City completed a first ever domestic treble in English football.
However, the 33-year-old believes completing a decade in Manchester is the perfect time to step away.
"This is the last one," Silva told reporters in his native Gran Canaria. "Ten years for me is enough. It's the perfect time for me.
"Initially, City were talking about two years, but I decided to sign another one, so I finished at 10 years.
"It completes the cycle. It's a nice round figure. I can never see myself playing against City for another team. So 10 years - that's it." Silva missed chunks of City's title-winning ...

David Silva set for final season at Man City

South Korea and Saudi Arabia signed an $8.3 billion economic co-operation pact Wednesday during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's first visit to Seoul, as the oil-rich kingdom looks eastward following Western criticism over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.
Saudi Arabia is resource-poor Seoul's biggest oil supplier and most of the agreement is accounted for by a $6 billion deal between oil giant Saudi Aramco and Korean firm S-Oil to build refinery and downstream facilities in South Korea.
A giant banner welcoming the crown prince was hung on the Seoul headquarters of S-Oil, South Korea's third-biggest refiner, which is majority owned by Saudi Aramco.
Saudi Arabia is South Korea's "biggest construction market overseas, the largest investor in the country among countries in the Middle East and also the biggest trading parter in the region," President Moon Jae-in said at a meeting with Prince Mohammed.
The welcome offered to the crown prince in Seoul sits in contrast to the global ...

South Korea, Saudi sign $8 bln economic co-operation pact

Ten illegal immigrants died Wednesday and 30 were injured when the driver of a packed minibus refused an order to stop and crashed into a shop in northwest Turkey, local officials and media said.
The driver ignored an order by a security official to halt, speeding up instead and crashing into a shop near the Greek border, the office of the governor of Edirne province said in a statement.
The private DHA news agency said there were 40 people in the minibus. All 30 survivors were injured.
The nationality of the illegal immigrants was not known.  Migrants fleeing war and poverty use Turkey as a transit country to try and reach Europe, although the numbers have dropped since the influx hit a peak in 2015.
That year saw over a million people arrive in Greece from Turkey, mostly in boats, during the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.
But a March 2016, a deal between Ankara and the European Union helped staunch the flow.
Turkey has about four million refugees -- the highest ...

10 migrants dead, 30 hurt in Turkey bus crash: official

Seven police officers have been killed in a jihadist attack in restive North Sinai, Egypt's interior ministry said Wednesday.
The attack near the regional capital El-Arish targeted an "assembly centre" for police, according to the ministry.
North Sinai has long been a centre of insurgents and Egyptian authorities last year launched an offensive against the jihadists.

Egypt says 7 policemen killed in Sinai jihadist attack

The dollar rose Wednesday while gold and most Asian equities fell after top Federal Reserve officials dented hopes for a big interest rate cut, while traders are also fretting over this week's meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Adding to the downward pressure were concerns about worsening tensions between the US and Iran, although a drop in US stockpiles boosted oil prices.
Global markets had been on a healthy rally for more than a week after Trump hailed phone talks with his Chinese counterpart and said they would meet to discuss their trade war on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka.
That coincided with a dovish lean from the US central bank that raised expectations that it would soon announce its first rate reduction in more than a decade.
However, optimism took a hit Tuesday after Fed boss Jerome Powell warned about the outlook for the US economy but said policymakers would not "overreact" to recent data.
Also Tuesday, St Louis Fed president James Bullard, ...

Asian markets and gold drop, dollar boosted on Fed rate worries

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Japan on Wednesday for bilateral talks after a testing time for the longstanding alliance between Paris and Tokyo following the arrest of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn.
Macron's trip comes days before Japan hosts the G20 summit in Osaka, and the French leader will hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before meeting Japan's newly enthroned Emperor Naruhito on Thursday.
Macron will become only the second foreign leader to meet Naruhito, who took the throne last month after his father abdicated.
Abe and Macron have stressed that their ties remain strong despite tensions brought to the fore by the arrest of Ghosn, who once led an alliance of Japan's Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors and France's Renault.
But profound differences remain over how that auto partnership should evolve, with Renault seeking closer integration with Nissan, and the Japanese firm resisting.
Ahead of the trip, the Elysee Palace said Macron would emphasise "France's ...

Ghosn casts shadow as Macron lands in Japan for talks before G20

North Korea denounced US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as an obstruction to nuclear negotiations on Wednesday, days before President Donald Trump visits Seoul while talks with Pyongyang are deadlocked.
The process has been stalled since a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February collapsed, after they failed to agree on what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.
The two sides have had minimal contact and Trump is due to fly to Seoul at the weekend for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
But a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry criticised Trump's top diplomat on Wednesday, calling recent comments by Pompeo "a manifestation of the most extreme hostile acts" against Pyongyang.
The top US diplomat told reporters this week the resumption of working-level talks with the North was becoming "a very real possibility", adding: "Some 80-plus per cent of the North Korean economy is sanctioned."
He ...

N Korea blasts Pompeo as obstruction to nuclear talks

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran "never seeks war" with the US, state media reported Wednesday amid a spike in tensions between the two countries.
"Iran has no interest to increase tension in the region and it never seeks war with any country, including (the) US," the president said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
Rouhani was speaking by phone to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, as Tehran and Washington engaged in an escalating war of words following Iran shooting down a US drone last week.
"We have always been committed to regional peace and stability and will make efforts in this respect," the Iranian president told Macron.
US President Donald Trump said he pulled back from retaliatory strikes on Iran at the last minute, rejecting Tehran's claim that the aircraft was in its airspace.
But pressure mounted this week with Trump announcing sanctions on Iran's supreme leader and top officials.
The new measures are the latest against Tehran since Trump pulled out of a landmark 

Iran 'never seeks war' with US, says Rouhani

Papua New Guinea's volatile Ulawun volcano -- designated one of the world's most hazardous -- began spewing ash Wednesday, turning the sky dark, sending residents fleeing and prompting an eruption warning.
The volcano on the remote Bismarck Archipelago chain is listed as one of 16 "Decade Volcanoes" targeted for research because they pose a significant risk of large, violent eruptions.
"The volcanic activity at Mt Ulawun began at 7:00 am this morning after slight rumbling and light emission," Leo Porikura, an official with the West New Britain Disaster Office, told AFP.
"The Rabaul Volcano Observatory has declared a stage one alert warning of a possible eruption." Witnesses reported ash spewing out of the 2,334 metre (7,657 foot) summit, sending trails spanning high overhead.
"The sky has turned black," said Kingsly Quou, manager of the nearby Mavo Estates palm plantation.
Quou said that villagers living at the base of the volcano had already been evacuated and he and his colleagues ..

Papua New Guinea volcano spews ash, triggering eruption alert

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Panama-Costa Rica border around midnight on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, with the potential to cause casualties and "significant damage".
The shallow quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), about two kilometers from the nearest town of Progreso in Panama, USGS said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, but US seismologists said the disaster was "potentially widespread," with the USGS website pointing out that "past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response."
"Estimated economic losses are 0-4 percent GDP of Panama," the website said.
According to the National Seismological Network (RSN) in Costa Rica, the quake struck at 0523 GMT Wednesday (11.23 pm Tuesday) with its epicenter located 11 kilometers east of the Panamanian border town of Puerto Armuelles.
The tremor was felt in Costa Rica's capital San Jose and in many parts of the Central American country, according to ..

AFP

AFP

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